“A woman who practices reciting Buddha Amitabha’s name, is extremely hard and recites “NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA” three times daily. Although she is doing this practice for over 10 years, she is still quite suggest, yelling at individuals all the time. She starts her practice lighting incense and hitting a little bell.
A pal wished to teach her a lesson, and just as she started her recitation, he pertained to her door and called out: “miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen!”.
As this was the time for her practice she got upset, however she said to herself: “I have to resist my anger, so I will just ignore it.” And she continued: “NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA …”
But the guy continued to scream her name, and she ended up being a growing number of oppressive.
She struggled against it and wondered if she should stop the recitation to give the guy a piece of her mind, however she continued reciting: “NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA …”
The man outside heard it and continued: “Miss Nuyen, miss out on Nuyen …”
Then she could not stand it anymore, jumped up, slammed the door and went to eviction and screamed: “Why do you need to act like that? I am doing my practice and you continue screaming my name over and over!”
The gentleman smiled at her and stated: “I simply called your name for 10 minutes and you are so mad. You have been calling Amitabha Buddha’s name for more then 10 years now; simply imagine how angry he must be by now!”
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LOVE
A student confided in Suzuki Roshi that she had tremendous feelings of love for him, and that it puzzled her.
“Do not fret,” he said. “You can let yourself have all the sensations you have for your teacher. That’s good. I have sufficient discipline for both of us.”
TEACUPS
A trainee asked Suzuki Roshi why the Japanese make their teacups so thin and fragile that they break quickly. “It’s not that they’re too fragile,” he addressed, “but that you do not understand how to handle them. You should adjust yourself to the environment, and not vice versa.”
From: “To Shine One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki: Stories of a Zen Instructor Informed by His Students” (Modified by David Chadwick
THE ARRIVAL
On a see to the East Coast, Suzuki Roshi got to the meeting point of the Cambridge Buddhist Society to discover everybody scrubbing down the interior in anticipation of his go to. They were surprised to see him, because he had composed that he would get here on the following day. He connected back the sleeves of his robe and insisted on joining the preparations “for the grand day of my arrival.”
“To Shine One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki: Stories of a Zen Instructor Told by His Students”
THE PROBLEM
2 monks were going back to the monastery at night. It had actually drizzled and there were puddles of water on the road sides. At one location a stunning girl was standing unable to walk accross because of a puddle of water. The older of the two monks increased to a her lifted her in his alms and left her on the other side of the road, and continued his way to the monastery.
In the evening the more youthful monk concerned the elder monk and stated, “Sir, as monks, we can not touch a woman?”
The senior monk answered “yes, sibling”.
Then the more youthful monk asks again,” however then Sir, how is that you lifted that female on the roadside?”
The senior monk smiled at him and informed him” I left her on the other side of the road, however you are still carrying her “
THE OPPOSITE
One day a young Buddhist on his journey house, came to the banks of a broad river. Gazing hopelessly at the fantastic obstacle in front of him, he considered for hours on just how to cross such a large barrier. Just as he was about to quit his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a fantastic instructor on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the instructor, “Oh smart one, can you inform me how to get to the other side of this river”?
The teacher contemplates for a minute looks up and down the river and yells back, “My kid, you are on the other side”.
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THE ELEPHANT AND HIS OLD BLIND MOTHER
Long ago, in the hills of the Himalayas near a lotus swimming pool, the Buddha was when born as an infant elephant. He was a stunning elephant, pure white with feet and face the color of coral. His trunk gleamed like a silver rope and his ivory tusks curled up in a long arc.
He followed his mom everywhere. She plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from the high trees and gave them to him. “First you, then me,” she stated. She bathed him in the cool lotus pool amongst the fragrant flowers. Drawing the sparkling water up in her trunk, she sprayed him over the top of his head and back till he shone. Then filling his trunk with water, he took careful aim and sprayed an ideal geyser right between his mother’s eyes. Without blinking, she squirted him back. And backward and forward, they happily sprayed and splashed each other. Splish! Splash!
Then they rested in the soft filth with their trunks curled together. In the deep shadows of afternoon, the mom elephant rested in the shade of a rose-apple tree and watched her son romp and frolic with the other infant elephants.
The little elephant grew and grew up until he was the highest and strongest young bull in the herd. And while he grew taller and more powerful, his mom grew older and older. Her tusks were yellow and damaged and in time she ended up being blind. The young elephant plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from the tall trees and provided to his dear old blind mother. “First you, then me,” he said.
He bathed her in the cool lotus pool among the aromatic flowers. Drawing the carbonated water up in his trunk, he sprayed her over the top of her head and back up until she shone. Then they rested in the soft filth with their trunks curled together. In the deep shadows of afternoon, the young elephant directed his mother to the shade of a rose-apple tree. Then he went roaming with the other elephants. One day a king was hunting and spied the stunning white
elephant. “What a splendid animal! I must have him to ride upon!” So the king captured the elephant and put him in the royal stable. He embellished him with silk and jewels and garlands of lotus flowers. He provided him sweet yard and juicy plums and filled his trough with distilled water.
But the young elephant would not consume or drink. He wept and wept, growing thinner every day. “Noble elephant,” said the king, “I embellish you with silk and gems. I offer you the finest food and the purest water, yet you do not consume or drink. What will please you?” The young elephant said, “Silk and jewels, food and drink do not make me happy. My blind old mom is alone in the forest with no one to look after her. Though I may pass away, I will take no food or water till I give some to her first.”
The king stated, “Never have I seen such kindness, not even among people. It is wrong to keep this young elephant in chains.” Free, the young elephant raced through the hills trying to find his mom. He found her by the lotus pool. There she lay in the mud, too weak to move. With tears in his eyes, he filled his trunk with water and sprayed the top of her head and back till she shone. “Is it drizzling?” she asked. “Or has my son went back to me?” “It is your very own boy!” he cried. “The king has actually set me free!” As he washed her eyes, a miracle took place. Her sight returned. “May the king rejoice today as I rejoice at seeing my kid once again!” she said.
The young elephant then plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from a tree and gave them to her. “First you, then me.”
THE PARADOX OF SAMSARA
Picture this scene: a layman beings in front of his house, consuming a fish from the pond behind your home, holding his child in his lap. The dog is consuming the fishbones and the guy kicks the pet dog. Not an extraordinary scene one would think, but ven. Shariputra commented:
“He eats his daddy’s flesh and kicks his mom away,
The opponent he eliminated he dandles on his lap,
The partner is gnawing at her spouse’s bones,
Samsara can be such a farce.”
What had occurred?. The man’s daddy passed away and was born-again as a fish in the swimming pool, the layman captured his dad, the fish, eliminated it, and was now eating it. The layman’s mother was extremely connected to your house so she was reborn as the guy’s pet dog. The man’s enemy had been eliminated for raping the guy’s spouse; and because the opponent was so connected to her, he was born-again as her child. While he consumed his father’s meat, the canine – his mother – consumed the fish bones, therefore was beaten by her son. His own little child, his enemy, was sitting on his knee.
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YOU SPIT, I BOW
The morning after Philip Kapleau and Teacher Phillips reached Ryutakuji Abbey they were given a tour of the place by Abbot Soen Nakagawa. Both Americans had actually been greatly influenced by tales of ancient Chinese masters who ‘d damaged spiritual texts, and even pictures of the Buddha, in order to free themselves from accessory to anything. They were therefore shocked and disturbed to discover themselves being led into a ceremonial hall, where the Roshi welcomed them to pay aspects to a statue of the temple’s founder, Hakuin Zenji, by bowing and providing incense.
On seeing Nakagawa bow prior to the image, Phillips could not contain himself, and break out: “The old Chinese masters burned or spit on Buddha statues! Why do you bow down prior to them?”
“If you wish to spit, you spit,” responded the Roshi. “I prefer to bow.”
From: One Bird One Stone: 108 American Zen Stories by Sean Murphy
HAPPINESS
“When I was staying with my mother in London. At the time she was the house cleaner for a really wealthy Canadian who lived in a high-end flat just off Hyde Park. They all went off for a while, and I had the flat to myself. There I remained in London, residing in this elegant flat with 2 huge color television and all the food I might potentially consume! I had adequate money for whatever I wanted, lots of records, great deals of everything. However I was so bored!
I informed myself, “Please remember this. If you are ever tempted to think that physical convenience gives happiness, remember this.”
But then, another time I was staying in a cave, not my cave but another cave, which was very little. It was so little that you could not stand in it, with a tiny box you might only simply being in, which was the bed as well. It had lots of fleas, so I was covered in flea bites. You had to go half a mile down an extremely high track to raise water. There was also nearly no food at all, and it was hot. However I was in bliss. I was so delighted. It was a very sanctuary, and the people there were wonderful. Although from a physical viewpoint the circumstance was hard, so what! The mind mored than happy. I bear in mind that whole location as being bathed in golden light. Do you see what I indicate?”
Ani Tenzin Palmo, from “Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Mentors on Practical Buddhism’
THE PROUD BEETLE IN A SWELLING OF COW DUNG
“There when was a beetle which came upon a swelling of cow dung. He worked himself into it and liking what he saw, he welcomed his pals to join him in constructing a city in it. After working feverishly for a few days they developed a spectacular ‘city ´ in the dung and feeling extremely pleased with their accomplishment they chose to elect the very first beetle as their king. Now to honour their new ‘king ´ they organised a grand parade through their ‘city ´
. While these excellent proceedings were taking place, An elephant occurred to pass by and seeing the lump of cow dung he lifted his foot to prevent stepping on it. The king beetle saw the elephant and madly screamed at the substantial monster. ‘Hey you! Don ´ t you have any respect for royalty? Don ´ t you understand it is rude to raise your leg over my majestic head? Apologies at the same time or I ´ ll have you punished. ´ The elephant looked down and said, ‘Your most thoughtful majesty, I humbly crave your pardon. ´ Therefore saying he knelt down on the swelling of cow dung and crushed king, city, residents and pride in one act of obeisance.”
Ven. K Sri Dhammananda
DISCOVERING A PIECE OF THE FACT
One day Mara, the Evil One, was travelling through the villages of India with his attendants. he saw a male doing strolling meditation whose face was lit up on wonder. The man had just found something on the ground in front of him.
Mara’s attendant asked what that was and Mara replied, “A piece of fact.” “Doesn’t this trouble you when somebody discovers a piece of truth, O Evil One?” his attendant asked. “No,” Mara responded. “Right after this, they typically make a belief out of it.”
From 108 Treasures for the Heart: A Guide for Daily Living by Benny Liow
THE TAIL
There is a story about a princess who had a small eye issue that she felt was really bad. Being the king’s child, she was rather ruined and kept weeping all the time. When the doctors wanted to apply medication, she would inevitably decline any medical treatment and kept touching the aching area on her eye. In this method it became worse and worse, until lastly the king declared a big reward for whoever could treat his daughter. After some time, a man arrived who declared to be a famous physician, but in fact was not even a physician.
He stated that he could absolutely treat the princess and was confessed to her chamber. After he had analyzed her, he exclaimed, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” “What is it?” the princess asked. The doctor said, “There is absolutely nothing much incorrect with your eye, but there is something else that is actually serious.” The princess was alarmed and asked, “What in the world is so serious?” He thought twice and said, “It is really bad. I should not inform you about it.” No matter how much she firmly insisted, he declined to inform her, saying that he could not speak without the king’s permission.
When the king got here, the medical professional was still hesitant to expose his findings. Finally the king commanded, “Inform us what is incorrect. Whatever it is, you have to tell us!” At last the physician stated, “Well, the eye will improve within a few days – that is no problem. The huge problem is that the princess will grow a tail, which will end up being at least 9 fathoms long. It might start growing very soon. If she can identify the first minute it appears, I may be able to avoid it from growing.” At this news everybody was deeply concerned. And the princess, what did she do? She remained in bed, day and night, directing all her attention to identifying when the tail might appear. Therefore, after a couple of days, her eye got well.
This shows how we typically respond. We focus on our little problem and it becomes the center around which everything else revolves. So far, we have actually done this consistently, life after life. We think, “My desires, my interests, my likes and dislikes come first!” As long as we work on this basis, we will stay unchanged. Driven by impulses of desire and rejection, we will travel the roads of samsara without discovering a way out. As long as attachment and hostility are our sources of living and drive us onward, we can not rest.From Bold Stepstoward Valiancy: The 3 Automobiles of Buddhism, by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche Source